Color Me Once
by KodaTheBeaver
Summary: After a huge fight, Ruby is forced to move out and go to a new school. She's never heard anything about Beacon, but once she arrives, she knows it's nothing like her old school. Yuri Harem...(cover art by tumblr user thezombieparadise)
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note**

 **Heyo! Koda here with a new story. I decided to put it out early since I've been gone a lot and this is my thanks to all of you who supported Amnesiac. I'm still writing it but here's my other project. This is the winning poll on profile which is a Ruby Harem story. There is a plot to this story and a lot of the romances aren't love at first sight. Also not every girl falls in love with Ruby. It depends on how the girls interact with her throughout the story. There is also no incest. Sorry guys, but I'm not doing RubyxYang in this story.**

 **This story got its inspiration from Majisuka Gakuen, School Rumble, Clannad, and some other shows as well. It's a Modern AU so if that's not your thing, I suggest you leave. There's some Yaoi in this story but it doesn't really focus on it. It's only in the background. I also have Ruby's age bumped up in this story because I'm not really comfortable writing smut while she's like 15. She's 17 in this story. It's a bit of a slow paced story so some of the romances won't come quick.**

 **Anyway the cover art was made by my friend Liv who you can find on Tumblr(since she doesn't have a fanfic account) at thezombieparadise. She helped me come up with this story as well. After you're done reading this first chapter, we'd appreciate it if you give us some feedback and let us know what you think of it.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **[Quick note]**

 **First Years:** 16-17 years old

 **Second Years:** 17-18 years old

 **Third Years:** 18-19 years old

* * *

 **Color Me Once**

 **Chapter 1**

"We're only doing what's best for you," he father had told her before he helped her with her belongings into Amber's car. "Please don't be mad at us…"

The thing was that she wasn't. She understood. It had to be done so she could be safe. Sure she'd leave all her old friends, but like he said, this was best for her.

She got into the car and looked at him out the window. She could see the forced smile on his face, showing that he actually didn't want her to leave. He waved after the two when they drove off.

She continued to stare out the window, still seeing that sad expression on her father's face. It gave her a sense that everything that had happened in the past led up to this. She thought she wanted to cry but she wasn't upset. Instead, she reached into her book bag that was sitting in her lap and pulled out her Walkman.

"Are you okay?" the woman driving finally spoke. "I know this is hard on both you and Tai, but you haven't said anything yet."

She shook her head and slipped on her headphones. Her thoughts went back to him.

And the words he spoke earlier sounded more like he was saying it to himself than to her.

* * *

Ruby was finally able to go to her new school the week after it had started. She looked forward to meeting new people and exploring a new environment. The school that she was going to was a private school where it costs a lot to get into.

"Beacon Academy G" was what the school was called. The G standing for girls only. Same meaning for "Beacon Academy B" which was on the other side of Vale, only for boys. She was offered to stay in a dormitory, but her guardian, Amber, didn't find it necessary since they lived close by. Both the schools were for really smart kids, something that Ruby paid no mind to. The school also had uniforms, which she didn't necessarily like. The get up was a plain, short sleeved button up, a red tie, and a skirt.

Telling Amber goodbye, she swung her bag over her shoulder and headed out. Once she got outside, she grabbed her bike that was parked on the side of the house, put on her headphones, and peddled to school.

Her bike was one of the many things her dad got her before she moved in with Amber. Today wasn't the first time she rode it. She rode it often before school started. First, she went and explored the neighborhood she lived in, then the city, and soon she would have explored the whole area. People were always outside when she rode her bike, and she did catch a glimpse of people who looked around her age. She never got a chance to talk to them except for her neighbors, but they were old.

When she arrived at the school, she parked her bike on the bike rack and locked it up. There were people just like her already entering the school with their own bags either hanging on their backs or sides. Everyone knew where they were going. Ruby, on the other hand, wasn't quite sure.

She rested her headphones on her shoulders and took out her schedule before entering the school. Everyone else was walking into the classrooms they had to go in while she just stood there and squinted at her schedule.

 _I should've came prepared,_ she thought.

"You look like you need some help," came a voice, and at first she thought that was all in her head until she turned around.

The voice was a bit raspy, like the person behind her was suffering from a dry throat.

Looking back, she was met with a lopsided smile as only a single, tinted blue eye was staring down at her. The other one was covered by a beanie and the girl had the same uniform on as her, but wore a red, track jacket over her shirt. She looked just as friendly as she sounded despite how her voice sounded.

"Yea…" Ruby started handing her paper to the other girl. "I don't know where my classroom is."

With a quick glance she told her, "You're in the same class as me."

Ruby just stared at her as she was handed back her paper. The girl pulled her along when she didn't say anything.

"Name's May by the way," she continued. "So you're the new girl, Ruby. Where'd you come from?"

Ruby tried to find the words she was looking for since she was usually the first one to talk to someone new and not the other way around. Her plan was to find someone outgoing, like the girl talking to her, and just start up a conversation. She never had a plan for when someone would talk to her first.

But, May waited patiently, which confused her.

"I came from outside the kingdoms," she finally managed to answer.

May just nodded as she replied, "Cool. This school's pretty great. You'll enjoy here. The other girls, though, might be a problem."

She laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her neck as she steered her into the classroom. The teacher wasn't in the room yet so all the girls were just doing their own thing. May took a seat and Ruby decided to take a seat in the empty desk next to her.

"You might not want to sit-"

Before May could even finish her sentence, she was interrupted by the girl that was now standing over Ruby.

Gum popped.

"That's my seat you're sitting in, new girl," she growled.

She stared down at her with mint green eyes that matched her hair, and just like May, she had her own sweatshirt on, though it was purple and she had the hood up. Ruby was pretty sure the hood part wasn't in the dress code but was also sure that this girl was the type of girl who'd go against the rules. She didn't wear a tie like her and May but there were other girls who didn't either. The look that was on her face said that she didn't want to be messed with.

"Can you hear?" she asked with an arched eyebrow, after popping her gum again.

The girl barely chewed her gum as Ruby saw. No one probably wouldn't even notice that she had gum in her mouth if she didn't pop it a lot.

"I'm sorry Reese," May spoke up with a crack in her voice. "I didn't tell Ruby about your seat."

The said girl's eyes moved away from Ruby and onto her.

"Well next time make sure you do."

Ruby quickly shuffled out of her seat before either of them could get yelled at. She decided to take the empty seat behind May when she saw that no one had claimed it. Along that process, Reese watched her with piercing eyes before taking her own seat and ignoring the two.

May turned.

"Sorry about her," she whispered. "She gets cranky in the morning because of her roommate. She'll be a lot less mean later on."

Ruby nodded, understanding. She wasn't scared of Reese. She was a bit intimidated but not scared. She knew people had reasons for the way they act. It was nothing new to her. That's why she had to move out her house. It wasn't because of her but the people around her. She'd never be mad at someone for being in a bad mood.

"That's Reese if you hadn't heard," May continued in a whisper. "She's actually a pretty cool person despite her cranky mood right now. She'll probably apologize to you later on."

She just nodded again as the teacher walked in. The woman walked in with assertiveness and looked around the same age as Amber, but the glasses she wore made her look more mature.

"Good morning girls," she greeted, sitting at her desk.

She counted each head and stopped at Reese with a frown.

"Reese, what did I tell you about your hood?" she asked.

Ruby noticed the woman never mentioned May, since the girl wore a beanie on her head. Though, it was covering her left eye so something might've happened to it.

Reese just stared at the teacher boredly, making the woman sigh in defeat as she wrote down the attendance. She looked up again, this time her eyes going on Ruby.

"You must be Ruby Rose," she said with a smile. "I'm you're room teacher, Ms. Goodwitch. Welcome to Beacon Academy. Stand up and tell us a bit about yourself."

She froze for a second before slowly rising up from her seat. All eyes were on her now, including Reese's. She always hated to be put on the spot and be the center of attention. Everyone just had a blank expression except for the teacher and May, who were smiling at her.

She took a deep breath.

"Well, I'm Ruby," the girl started nervously. "Before I moved to Vale, I lived outside the kingdoms. I also enjoy art, music, reading, and sports."

She sat back down and everyone continued to stare at her from some odd reason.

"Cool," Reese said to everyone's surprise.

May turned and stared at her incredulously. So did everyone else. Because of this, Ruby thought that it was rare for Reese to say something like that in the morning, especially after she had just snapped on her.

When Ruby smiled at her, she just turned and muttered, "Whatever."

At least she wasn't annoyed anymore.

The class went on after everyone got their attention off of Reese. Ruby didn't miss much of class despite her not being there the first week. They didn't really do anything for the first week of school since they just started that week.

* * *

When it got to the second half of the day, everyone either left to go to a different classroom, went outside, or went to the mess hall. There was about 40 minutes for lunch or free period, then it was back to whatever class they had next. Ruby had brought her own lunch that Amber had made her, which was a sandwich.

May invited her to sit with her and Reese outside for lunch. They sat at bench that was under a large tree. A lot of the girls from the school were outside she noticed. It was nice out so it was probably a good day to sit outside.

Reese was less cranky now that it was the afternoon and apologized to the brunette for snapping at her in the morning. She had her own sandwich while May had two hot dogs.

"So what made you come all the way here?" Reese asked after taking a bite of her sandwich.

"My dad wanted me to go to a more private school," Ruby answered. "This one had the best reviews so it was decided I'd go here."

She was slightly telling the truth. She didn't want anyone to know the whole reason why she moved. She didn't want anyone feeling bad for her. Some of her friends already felt that way back at her old school when she told them why she had to leave.

"Oh," was all Reese said then continued eating.

The brunette arched an eyebrow.

"She's always like this," May told her with a smirk. "She's not cranky anymore but she still has that dull attitude."

The other girl shot her a glare before snapping, "I do not!" She glanced at the two hot dogs. "And, it seems like you still have that big mouth!"

May glared back at her, not saying anything. Ruby judged this as a normal thing between them. It made her smile. They were a lot different than her friends from her old school. It wasn't a bad thing, it was more interesting.

"Whacha smiling for?" asked Reese, who was now looking at her again.

"I was just thinking that you two look like you fight often," Ruby answered slowly, not wanting to irritate the girl anymore than she already was.

Her expression softened as she shrugged, "Not all the time. Not as much as my god forsaken roommate."

Ruby raised an eyebrow before May replied, "Oh Reese, Arslan isn't that bad. Maybe if you were a lot less lazy, she wouldn't yell at you so much."

Ruby was still confused which caught both girls' attention.

"Oh right," May started, "Arslan is Reese's roommate. You don't live in a dormitory?"

Ruby shook her head.

"Oh, that explains everything." She rubbed the back of her neck. "I don't either by the way."

Reese muttered a "lucky assholes" but she ignored her.

"Well a lot of the girls in this school mostly live in the dormitories," she continued. "A few of us, like you and me, live in a home. The dorms here are pretty alright, I used to live in one my first year but then my parents rented a small apartment for me. Basically all the first years stay in there. You'll see a few second years and barely any third years. So yea, it's pretty alright there—"

"—especially the shower room," Reese ended with a smirk at her.

"Goddammit Reese!" May cried, face flushed a deep crimson.

Ruby's own face matched the other girl's as she stared at Reese incredulously. Reese cackled and almost fell back out of her seat as both girls stared at her. One in shock and the other in annoyance.

"Hey chill out May," said Reese after she calmed down then added, with a sly smile, "you were into that anyway."

"Oh my god, Reese!" the other girl shouted, looking like she was ready to pounce on her.

Ruby continued to stare with wide eyes and a blushing face, mouth agape.

These girls were very different from her friends at her other school…

"Wh-What do you mean by that?" She asked Reese.

Reese turned her attention away from May and looked at the the brunette with a teasing sigh.

"Well you see here," she started, eyes closed. "May's a huge pervert. She won't tell anyone though because—" She put her finger to her lip and whispered, "—that's all a secret."

By now May looked like she wanted to strangle the other girl but was trying to keep her composer. She turned to Ruby instead with a panicked expression as she saw her hand covering her mouth.

"I-It's not what you think Ruby," she tried, "Reese was just—"

"Reese that was mean," Ruby interrupted, frowning at Reese.

Both girls looked at her with shocked expressions.

"She didn't do anything wrong. If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all."

Reese didn't say anything but glared back at her. This continued for about a minute until she gave up and muttered a "whatever" and turned away.

"Thanks Ruby," May said, rubbing the back of her neck.

Ruby noticed how she kept doing that as she noticed Reese's annoyed expression whenever something didn't go her way. It made her know more about them even though it was such a little exchange.

"But you stop bullying Reese too," she said with a pout causing Reese to look back at her in surprise. "You guys could end up getting in a serious fight."

They both laughed nervously. Ruby narrowed her eyes at them. Judging by their laughing, it already had happened before. She sighed in defeat.

"So how about you tell me about the people here?" she asked, changing the subject.

This time, it was Reese's turn to talk about the school, "Well everyone's quite alright here…except for my roommate and a few other girls. There's also some fighting here and there." Ruby's eyes bulged. "Not as much right now since we just started, but I think everyone's tired of it after what happened last year."

This caught her attention.

"What happened last year?" she asked.

"There was just this big fight between the upper classmen and the lower," May answered. "Like big. The teachers had to get involved, the cops, people's parents came by. It was bad. Luckily, Reese and I and probably a few others weren't apart of it. But, it's all good now since those students have graduated."

"Wait…graduated?"

Both she and Reese nodded.

"You can graduate here even if you get in a fight. Just as long as you don't severely hurt someone." Reese laughed nervously.

The more the two girls talked about the school, the more Ruby started to feel nervous about it but also fascinated. They seemed so used to it. That also fascinated her. She liked these somewhat awkward girls.

Before she could ask anymore questions, the warning bell rang.

"Well, looks like our talk is over," said Reese, stretching her arms out.

* * *

Her next classes were alright. She just had P.E. and her major, art. Basically almost all of the second years had P.E. like her so she got to see some new faces. She finally met Reese's roommate, Arslan, and another girl named Neon, which May called Katt. The girl didn't exactly like her like how Reese didn't Arslan, but she never gave an explanation.

Ruby was given a uniform that consisted of plain, basketball shorts and a t-shirt. She had brought her own sneakers with her. It also wasn't her first time changing in a locker room, but it did make her nervous. She didn't want anyone to look too closely at her while she got dressed, but they barely paid any mind. There were girls arguing all around the room. The toilets in the stalls would go off every few minutes. Reese was walking around the room half-naked while May and Arslan were shouting after her.

"We're all girls in here," she had said boredly. "Quit whining."

Ruby couldn't help but stare. She had done it a few times before at her old school, but she wasn't one of the only ones staring. May and Arslan may have had a problem with Reese, but that didn't stop them, mostly May, from staring at the other girls.

 _Maybe Reese was right,_ Ruby thought, eyes narrowing at the other girl, whose own eyes were glued to a girl's naked back.

After that whole mess, they played a game of capture the flag outside. Reese and Neon were on Ruby's team along with a few other girls while May and Arslan were on the other team with the rest of the girls. Reese barely tried, making the gym teacher get angry and just sit her out. She ended up taking a nap in the grass.

"Lazy ass," May muttered.

With or without Reese, Ruby's team ended up winning. She was really fast so she had a great advantage.

When P.E. was over and they returned to the locker room, a few of the girls, along with Arslan, complemented her on her speed. At her old school, the girl was on the track team so it did help her win.

Her last class of the day, art, was mostly a mixed class, filled with first years, second years, and third years. She met more students named Pyrrha and Coco, who were third years, and Penny, who was a first year. The girl Penny was kind of weird to her. She sort of spoke differently and reminded her of a robot.

The other two girls, Pyrrha and Coco, were pretty popular with the other girls, but they looked like they didn't really care. Though, Ruby could understand the girls. The two were absolutely gorgeous. It seemed like everybody knew them. They looked more intimidating than Reese when she's annoyed or angry. They actually greeted the brunette since she was new, along with a few others.

The class was doing floral art but doing the drawing portion first. Ruby didn't have a problem and easily followed the lesson. She actually loved making floral art, and it was the first thing she started with when she was younger. She used to draw flowers a lot. Especially roses. They reminded her of her mother.

The art class was more calm and collected than her P.E. class.

* * *

Once school was over, students were cleaning up the halls and classes to set up for after school activities. Only a few left the school while others stopped at their lockers. Ruby never really needed to go to hers and instead, met Reese at her locker while she was opening it.

"What's up?" she asked, keeping her eyes on her locker as she put in her combination.

"What's going on with the school?" Ruby questioned, watching a group of students pushed a cart full of materials into a classroom.

Opening her locker, she turned to the redhead and answered, "Oh, it's club activities. Didn't your old school have them?"

Ruby nodded before replying, "We just went to our clubs. We didn't set anything up like this."

She took out her book bag and swung it over her shoulder before closing up her locker.

"Well, it's a lot different here than you're old school," Reese told her. "If you're interested, you can go check them out. I'm heading back to my room. None of them interest me."

"Oh."

She pulled something out of her sweatshirt pocket.

"Want a piece?" she asked handing it to her.

It was gum.

"No thanks," Ruby answered as she watched her stick a piece in her mouth.

She just shrugged and waved her off. Ruby wanted to ask her where May was but the girl was already gone, but she did manage to notice the girl pulled something big out of her book bag and drop it on the floor. After that, she hopped onto it and rode off.

"REESE WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT SKATEBOARDING INSIDE THE SCHOOL?!" Ruby heard Ms. Goodwitch shout from her classroom.

She giggled. Despite the other girl's grumpy attitude, she was actually really interesting and kind of nice. A lot of the girls were really nice in the school, including Arslan. Maybe the only reason why she gets mad at Reese all the time is because she's lazy like May said.

Ruby looked back where the other students were still setting up. She was interested on seeing what clubs there were, but she decided to do it another day. She had to let Amber know first.

When she went outside to get her bike, she saw two girls staring at it like they wanted to take it.

"Um…" Ruby mumbled, grabbing their attention.

They turned to her, eyes narrowed at her and hands on their hips. One girl had long, black hair while the other had her hair cut in a bob with the same color, and they both shared matching, green eyes.

"And you are…?" asked the short-haired girl.

Ruby gulped, staring at both of them nervously. Maybe she spoke too soon about all the girls being nice.

"I'm Ruby," she told them, then her eyes darted to her bike that was locked up on the bike rack, "and…that's my bike you're looking at."

"That's a nice bike," said the other girl with the long hair as she approached the redhead. "That's a _really_ nice bike. Who got you it?"

"M-My dad," she stuttered.

The two looked at each other for a moment and smirked, then looked back at the girl.

"So your dad got it for you?" the short-haired girl spoke again.

She nodded.

"Can you please move so I can get my bike," she asked, moving towards her bike, only to be stopped by the other girl as she grabbed her forearm.

"You're just going to leave us just like that?" She squeezed the brunette's forearm.

"We kind of want that bike you have there," said her sister, grabbing the girl's other arm. Then, her eyes narrowed and stabbing deep into Ruby's. "And we don't take no for an answer."

She squirmed but their grip was so tight. They were waiting for an answer, and if it was anything but a yes, she was probably going to get her ass kicked.

"Hey, you two!" someone called, causing all three of them to find the source of the voice.

It was May. Ruby looked just about relieved to see her friend. She would've ran over to hug her but the two girls were still holding onto her.

"Do you have to ruin everything May?" the girl with the short hair asked.

"Yes Miltiades," she replied with a crooked smile. "That's my friend you're harassing."

The two girls looked at each other again before, sighing and releasing the brunette. They gave both Ruby and May one last look before walking away with a roll of their eyes.

"You alright?" May asked once she was certain that the girls were gone.

Ruby nodded before asking, "Who were they?"

She rubbed the back of her neck and answered, "That's Melanie and Miltiades. They're the Malachite Twins. Long hair is Melanie and short hair is Miltiades. They're both third years and you'll always see them together most of the time. They bully everyone below their grade."

"Oh…"

"It's a good thing I was able to spot you guys before something bad happened. Those girls don't take no for an answer."

"Yea, I've heard," Ruby said, slightly smiling, before walking to her bike.

"That's a really nice bike though," the other girl told her, letting out a whistle. Ruby rose an eyebrow at her. "Oh no, I'm not thinking about stealing it too!"

Ruby just laughed before saying, "I know. I was just playing around."

She unlocked her bike off the rack and hopped on it.

"It was nice to meet you by the way," she told May.

The other girl beamed.

"Same to you. I'll see you tomorrow Ruby."

"See ya."

With a small wave, she rode off back home. It was a very interesting first day for her even though there were some ups and downs. She liked May and Reese and a few other girls she had met. She hoped she'd meet and get to know other students too.

* * *

When she arrived home, she parked her bike on the side of the house and walked inside.

"Hey Ruby," Amber greeted when she got in the house. "How was you're first day of school?"

"Great," she answered, setting down her bag on the kitchen table.

"Did you meet any new people?"

Ruby nodded, "Yea, I met a few, but I already made two friends so far. Their names are Reese and May."

The older woman smiled.

"That's great to hear," she said. "I'm glad you like the school and the students. Your father was afraid that you wouldn't like the school."

"Dad called?"

"Yes, after you left to school." She went into the fridge and took some meat out. "He just wanted to know if you left yet. You might want to call him up."

"Yea, I'll do that."

She grabbed her bag and went to her room. Once she got in there, she pulled out her phone and dialed her father's phone number. He answered instantly.

"Ruby?" He called.

"Hey Dad!" she greeted, settling onto her bed.

"Hey Ruby, how was your first day of school?" he asked.

"It was great. Some of the students are kind of weird their but overall they're nice. I already made two friends so far."

She could hear him smile on the other end.

"Nice! Our friendliness does run in the family…" He trailed off, obviously not liking how that sounded.

"Uh," Ruby muttered awkwardly, "how's Yang doing by the way?"

It got silent for a moment, and she was starting to think that it wasn't a good idea to ask such a question to him. The silence broke when he cleared his throat.

"She's," he started slowly, "she's doing alright. She's back at school though. Well, home tutoring, but she's learning. Her drinking's not so bad either."

Her lips curled into a small smile for a moment. Her sister was making some progress.

"She mentioned you," her father told her.

Her eyebrows rose in surprise, smile fading.

"Really?" she asked.

"Yea," he answered. "She wanted to know how you were doing. That was it."

"Oh."

"She's getting there though…"

She knew he only said that to encourage her, but she wasn't feeling it. It was still nice to hear that Yang was actually thinking about her.

When she didn't say anything, he changed the subject, "I found more of your mother's cassettes. Be on the look out for a package in the mail."

"Thanks dad," said Ruby, her smile forming back again.

"No problem. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye dad. I love you."

"Love you too. Bye."

After she hung up, she set her phone on her dresser and laid on the bed for a while. She wished her dad told her more than that. She wished that he told her that it was more than once that Yang mentioned her. She wished he told her that Yang said that she missed her.

Not wanting to cry, she sat up and pulled her Walkman out of her book bag. She put in a different cassette before placing her headphones on and falling back onto the bed.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

 **(Quick Note: I don't think May has a voice actress yet but her voice basically sounds like Megan Fahlenbock[voice actress of Gwen from Total Drama Island and Jen from 6TEEN]. Same goes for Reese but her voice basically sounds like Ashly Burch[she's a VA of a lot of characters but Reese reminds me of Chloe Price from Life is Strange in this story].)**

 **That's it for now. More characters will be introduced next chapter of course. Again, hit this story up with a review if you can. I'm probably going to do something different than my other stories and like ACTUALLY answer your reviews this time. I don't want to be some kind of asshole so if you guys have any questions, feel free to ask. I know it's the first chapter and I haven't introduced much yet, but that doesn't mean you can't ask any questions that you have.**

 **Anyway, if you like this story, don't forget to favorite and/or follow. If you have something to say, review or even PM me if you want.**

 **Peace out!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note**

 **Hey guys! Here's the next chapter of this story. I've actually gotten a few chapters written already so all I have to do is just edit it. For those of you who read Amnesiac, the next chapter should be out sometime this week. Anyway, thanks for reading this story. I know a lot of you were looking forward to it. I also see some familiar users who like the story and I'd like to say it's nice to see that you look forward to reading this as well. Thanks also to those of you who favorited, followed, and reviewed. I really appreciate it.**

 **After you're done reading this chapter, why don't you leave a review a let me know what you think of it. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **(Commentary: I won't put all my review answers here and just answer the rest of you privately, but since you guys are the first people who reviewed, I might as well post them.)**

 **RatedRSuperStar:** Thanks, I hope you continue to like it.

 **Mvderek:** Alright that made me laugh actually.

 **Derpitay:** Yep, Pyrrha and Blake will be in it. I don't know about Nora yet. She's in the story, but I will see where I go with this story for me to add her or not.

 **.1:** Yea, I didn't really want to start with main characters in this story because I felt like trying something new. They're definitely in there though. As for the drama, you'll just have to keep reading ;)

 **YandereKyuubi:** I'm not going to have every girl in the harem, but I'll see where it goes and you can always ask if you want someone to be in it. I already know who's going to be a part of the harem so far, but a few more won't hurt. Glad I've got you interested.

 **THB4:** Yang will not be in the school, but there will be mentions of her. I kind of have her character based on how she'll probably be in volume 4 and how she was at the end of the last episode in volume 3. There will be bits and pieces of what happened that made Ruby have to go a new school and I hope you continue to read this story to find out.

 **A Wraith:** Thanks! You'll actually see who she meets next right now :)

 **spirit117:** Hey Spirit, I'm glad to hear that you were looking forward to this story. I haven't really read a story with the volume 3 characters in it except May and Winter. Even though most of the new characters haven't spoken much or at all, I try to fit their personality with how they acted in volume 3 basically. I hope you look forward to more in this story.

 **Reaper Whisper:** Don't worry there will barely be girls fighting over Ruby. I find it pretty annoying when people do that in stories not just in the RWBY category. There is fighting but not exactly over Ruby.

* * *

 **Color Me Once**

 **Chapter 2**

The next day of school was a bit weird for her. She had the same classes, saw the same students, but the morning was different.

Arriving to school, she was headed to her locker when suddenly she heard a click and her vision became slight blurry.

 _Wha…_

When her vision came back, she was met with big, brown eyes. The girl in front of her had long, brown hair and was holding a camera in her hand along with a bag hanging off her shoulder.

"Sorry about that," the girl said. "My name is Velvet Scarletina and I run the Beacon Academy Newspaper. Both from the girls and boys school. I just take pictures of the new students for your ID cards. And you must be Ruby."

"ID cards?" Ruby asked, arching an eyebrow at her, ignoring her small greet.

"Yea, every student gets one," she told her. "It's just to make sure we don't have any strangers coming in. I know that's weird but it has happened in the past."

Ruby nodded, understanding, then said with a smile, "Well, you could at least take a better picture of me. I probably look a mess."

Velvet looked down at the camera and winced a little. Judging by the way she reacted, Ruby guess that she did indeed look a mess. The girl looked up from her camera and gave her a nervous smile.

"Yea," she started, "let's redo that."

She raised up her camera and Ruby smiled at it. Another click and a slight flash; she almost lost her vision again.

"Whoa…" she whispered in a daze after the girl put down her camera.

"That's better," Velvet said, looking at the camera before showing the other girl.

"Yea, that looks good," she replied, staring at her smile picture.

"Well I have to get going now." Velvet put the camera in her bag. "It was nice meeting you Ruby."

"You too!" She watched the other girl leave then went to her locker.

* * *

In class, before the teacher came in, Reese and May told her more about the journalist. Reese was a lot less cranky for some reason.

"She's a third year," she told her. "You can get her newspapers in the student counseling office. Almost everyone gets them. She also runs the journaling club so she doesn't make all the stories from the schools on her own."

"She's a pretty rad girl and you'll most likely find her hanging out with Coco," said May. "One time, some girl made a rumor that they were dating and everybody believed it. Coco had to break the bad news to them."

Another thing is that the school, well, a lot of only girls schools in Remnant, is that everyone is basically comfortable with their sexuality. It's not really something uncommon in Remnant, but Ruby's been noticing it a lot in Beacon than her old school. It's most likely the same way with the boys' school too.

Her own sexuality didn't go amiss when she went to her old school she had a girlfriend. It didn't really last long because of family problems and the girl didn't want to get involved with that.

May was still talking and Ruby barely noticed. She had stopped talking about Velvet and Coco and was talking about what she did last night.

"So then I shot the dude in this amazing hiding spot I had and he was fuming," she finished.

Ruby blinked.

"You're such a fucking dork," Reese mumbled before facing the board, and taking out her phone.

She scowled at the other girl even though her back was turned, before whining. "Am not!"

She turned to Ruby with a look of desperation.

"You don't think I'm a dork, right Ruby?" she asked.

 _What was she talking about anyway?_ The brunette wondered. _Shooting someone?_

Realization came to her face as she found out that she was talking about a videogame.

"Not at all May," she said finally.

May beamed then smirked at Reese once she turned back around, her attention away from her phone.

"See that?" she snickered. "Ruby doesn't think I'm a dork."

Reese rolled her eyes before mumbling, "Of course she doesn't."

She stuck a piece of gum in her mouth.

"She's probably a dork too. You know, dorks stick together."

This time it was Ruby's turn to scowl at her. Reese just smirked at her as she rested her head in her hand and leaned her elbow on her desk.

"I'm not a dork!" Ruby cried. "You're so mean Reese."

She pouted _—pouted_ at her. Reese's smirk dropped as her eyebrows rose. Her face turned into that bored expression she'd always have as a cover up before she quickly turned back to the front. May just stared at her with utter confusion before looking back at Ruby. The brunette just shrugged.

What they didn't notice was that the other girl's face had started to form a small blush. Luckily, her hood was up and her phone was close to her face.

 _Damn new girl,_ she thought.

* * *

When Ruby was on her way outside to meet up with Reese and May for lunch, she was stopped by yet another girl. This time there were no pictures. She actually bumped into the girl since she was too busy fast-forwarding a song on her Walkman.

"Oops, sorry," she said after stumbling back.

The other girl gave her a look that could've killed her. It was worse than Reese's angry look and scarier than the Malachite Twins. Icy, blue eyes pierced right through her skull. It was like a laser was on her. The girl had snow white hair, tied to a side pony tail and a noticeable scar on her left eye. She stomped towards the brunette and stabbed her finger at her chest. Ruby squeaked.

"Were you even looking where you were going?" she asked, glaring right at her.

"Duh…I, uh…" Ruby couldn't even for a single sentence.

"That's obviously a no. You were too busy looking at—" Her eyes trailed down to the Walkman the other girl was holding. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion before looking back up at her. "—that thing."

She leaned back away from her and crossed her arms, waiting for an answered.

Ruby just stared.

"You obviously don't even know who I am," she mumbled. "You _must_ be new here. Are you a first year? Only a first year would act so foolish."

Ruby couldn't tell if she was either insulting only her or just the first years.

"No," she finally spoke, "I'm…a second year."

Her expression changed from annoyance to shock then back to annoyance as she shook her head.

"Unbelievable."

She reached into her purse, pulled out a pamphlet, and held it out to her.

"Uh what's thi—"

"It's everything you need to know about this school. Read this and don't ever talk to me." She shoved it into the girl's hand and then stomped away.

Ruby looked back and watched her leave for a moment before looking down at the paper.

 _Student Council?_ She thought as she starting walking to lunch.

* * *

"Damn kid," said Reese, watching Ruby approach her and May. "What took you so long?"

She showed them the paper once she sat at the bench.

"So you ran into the Ice Queen, huh?" asked May.

Ruby looked at her incredulously.

"She means Weiss Schnee," Reese corrected. "She's a second year like us and is the Vice President of the student council."

"And she's a major bitch," added May.

Ruby winced at the word. She didn't like hearing that word from anybody. It just didn't sound right.

"She's not _that_ bad," Reese grunted.

"That's because you're friends with her!" May cried. "Come on though, she even insults you sometimes."

She shrugged, "As do you. It's not anything hurtful anyway."

"Arslan is nicer than her and she isn't even mean!"

She smirked, "You're just mad because she rejected you when you asked her out."

"In the meanest way!" May whined and lied her head down on the table.

That caught Ruby's attention.

"Wait, what?" she asked.

Reese turned to her and explained, "May had this big ole' crush on Weiss last year and asked her out one day. Weiss just turned away from her and said 'no'."

"It was cruel!" May mumbled into the table.

"You'd think a girl like her is straight but I heard from Coco that she's picky with her lovers. That's why I never asked her out." Reese sighed before taking a sip of her coke. "I mean she's gorgeous. Who wouldn't be into her?"

Ruby had to agree with that but she didn't say anything. You can be attracted to someone's looks but not their personality. She thought about May again and wondered if the girl just went for looks.

"At least she likes you," said May as she picked her head up.

Reese just snickered at her before looking back at Ruby. She arched an eyebrow when she finally noticed her Walkman.

"Isn't the year a bit too late for those things?" She asked, eyeing it carefully. "You can listen to music on your phone y'know."

May's eyes followed to what Reese was looking at. The same expression was pasted on her face.

"Do people still even use those?" She looked up at the brunette.

Ruby gave them both a pointed look.

"It's my mom's," she told them.

They didn't get the idea.

"Aaand?" Reese pressed.

"She's…not really here anymore…" Ruby trailed off, looking down.

They still didn't get it until realization dawned on their faces. They began to panic.

"Oh shit!" Reese cried. "Oh shit, oh shit! I'm so sorry Ruby I didn't—"

"What the hell Reese?!" May snapped at her. "Why did you have to make her say that?!"

"I didn't mean to. I—"

"Guys," Ruby called, causing them to stop. "It's okay. Really. It happened a long time ago."

She put her Walkman and headphones in her bag.

"Oh," said Reese, now calming down. "Okay. I really didn't mean to push you like that."

"Yea, same," said May.

"Guys, it's really okay. I'm not upset or anything." She smiled at them, making the two feel a lot better.

She decided to change the subject as she looked back down at the paper.

"Soo," she started smoothly, "what's the Student Council all about?"

May blinked before answering, "The Student Council is basically like a club that sets up school events and all that mess. You can go and sign up but there's a slight chance that they'll accept you. Think of it as presidency. You already know that Weiss is VP. Pyrrha, who's a third year, is the President of the Student Council. Almost everybody is in love with her, including Weiss."

 _So Weiss did actually have someone she liked,_ Ruby thought.

May looked at Reese and asked, "You think if I joined the Student Council, Weiss'd be into me?"

She arched an eyebrow at her and gave her a looked that said, "You've got to be kidding me." The other girl laughed.

"I was just playing." May cleared her throat. "Anyway, Weiss probably gave you that as a way to shut you up or something. It happened to me."

Ruby wanted to know more, but by the time lunch was over, they moved onto a new subject.

* * *

For P.E., they had to run the track. Everyone ran except for Reese, and May had a hard time keeping up. She ended up puking on the grass, and Reese just laughed and told Ruby that, that happened often.

In her art class they were either finishing the drawing portion of their floral art or started painting it. Ruby was never really good with painting. Either it was oil, acrylic, or watercolor, she was terrible at it. They were doing acrylic. Their teacher, Ms. Peach, would always walk around and watch the students paint. She stopped at Ruby and just said, "Try a little harder." That was all. She didn't give her any tips, any suggestions. Nothing.

Before Ruby could even get anymore frustrated, Pyrrha, who was sitting next to her, scooted a little towards her and leaned in to her attempted painting to get a good look at it.

"You should use a thinner brush for small strokes," she told her then looked down at her paint bowl. "Also, take a dab of the paint or it will run and you'll see all those little bubbles there."

She pointed up at the painting and Ruby noticed what she was talking about. She turned towards the other girl and saw that she was a little close. It didn't make her uncomfortable, but her heart sped up a bit. Pyrrha looked over, noticing that she was staring and just smiled.

Quickly turning away, the girl mumbled, "Thanks."

"No problem," she replied then scooted away from her to go back to her painting.

 _I can see why a lot of people like her,_ Ruby thought before leaning over a bit to get a good look at the older girl's.

Amazing, was the only word Ruby could think of. The girl obviously knew what she was talking about when she helped her out. She had the urge to ask Pyrrha how she could paint so well.

She felt a lot better than earlier now that she helped her out.

* * *

When school was over again, Ruby said goodbye to Reese and May. This time, May suggested that they should exchange numbers with each other.

"In case we ever want to hang out or need help with homework," she explained.

Reese shrugged before they both gave Ruby her number along with her giving them hers. After that, they left. Ruby decided to get a look at all the clubs while the students were setting up.

There was a few interesting ones. They had a cooking club, journalism club(Like Reese told her), book club, music club, art club(Ruby seemed slightly interested though the teacher running it was Ms. Peach), theater club, and a few others. Out of all the clubs, there was only one that she found strange.

She looked into the classroom and saw Neon, Penny, and another girl with orange hair. It was just those three. No one else was in the classroom. They noticed her standing there at the doorway.

"Hello friend!" Penny greeted.

Ruby opened her mouth to say hi but was cut off when the one girl, whose name she didn't know, shouted, "Gingers only!"

She blinked.

"Sorry Ruby," said Neon with a cat-like smile.

 _No wonder why May calls her by her last name,_ she thought.

"But Nora's right," the cat girl continued. "You can join if you come back with orange hair."

Shaking her head, she backed away from the room.

"No thanks," she said.

This was something she had to ask the others about.

* * *

 **May:** _so u stumbled upon Katt's club, huh?_

When she got home, she changed out of her uniform and into her regular clothes before she texted May about what she saw.

 **Ruby:** _wats it all about?_

When she didn't answer right away, Ruby pulled out her homework from her book bag and started working on it.

About a minute later, her phone vibrated.

 **May:** _its rlly nothing honestly. all they do is just sit around and discuss random noise or play their portable gaming systems. they only let people with orange hair join. i don't know why honestly. the club formed last week when u weren't here._

She chuckled about the whole thing. She couldn't believe the principal really allowed a club like that. It wasn't even a club anyway.

 **May:** _so wat r u doing? :)_

 **Ruby:** _homework_

 **May:** _right! i need to work on that! i'll talk to you later_

 **Ruby:** _ok bye_

She placed her phone on her dresser and continued to work on her homework. Once she was done, she texted May again, but about other stuff instead.

* * *

Later on, she went downstairs and ate dinner with Amber. They were eating spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. She told her about school and about her friends. Then, Amber told her about work and how her day went.

"And then when I showed him the needle, the kid started screaming," the woman told her, chuckling.

Amber worked as a pediatric, so she only checked up on children and adolescences. She always told Ruby stories about some of her young patients. It was either good or bad or crazy, like the one she was just telling her.

"What happened after you stuck the needle in him?" Ruby asked.

"He made this small noise but after that, he just laughed," she answered. "And then he shouted 'Look, I'm a big boy now!'"

Ruby laughed, "That's cute."

"By the way," she started, wiping her mouth with a napkin, "I washed your scarf. Do you want to wear it to school?"

The girl nodded.

"Thank you."

After dinner, the two watched a TV series together before heading to bed.

* * *

The next day Ruby came to school, both May and Reese stared at her incredulously as she took her seat. Reese looked more irritated than yesterday.

"What's with the new get up?" she questioned. "Is the theater club hosting a play?"

May leaned over and gabbed her in the arm.

"Ah! Fuck!" she cried.

"Don't be mean," May commanded.

Rubbing her arm, she shot her a glare.

"I wasn't," she told her. "I was just curious."

"I just wanted to wear it," Ruby explained, not wanting a bigger conflict to happen. "I'm not even in a club."

They both just accepted it, not asking any further questions. It seemed like they didn't want to go through the same thing that happened yesterday. She was glad for that.

"Arslan is really being a pain in my ass," said Reese, changing the subject. "She kicked me out the room for an hour yesterday. It was only because I forgot to clean my side of the room up. So, then ice cream girl offered to let me sit in her room for the hour."

"Ice cream girl…?" Ruby asked.

May gave a Reese a panicked look before making a slicing motion on her neck with her hand and shaking her head.

"She has to know sooner or later," Reese told her then turned to Ruby and leaned in, whispering, "Her real name is Neo, but everyone calls her ice cream girl because of her hair color and her _fucking_ eyes. She's a third year but she's really supposed to be graduated by now. She's like a monster and shit if you get on her bad side. No one really talks about her because she's scary as hell."

Ruby's eyes widened and stuttered, "W-Was she in th-that big fight l-last year?"

She nodded, continuing, "Yea. She sent someone to the hospital after beating them up so bad. It's a real surprise that she was still able to go to this school. She just got held back and went to this program for the summer. She can't talk but that doesn't mean she isn't creepy. And she's not even the worst of them all. Last year—"

"Sorry I'm late everyone!" came the teacher as she strutted in the class room.

Reese grunted and leaned back to face the teacher. Ruby was curious as to what she was about to tell her. It scared her that someone like the girl Reese was talking about was in this school. She wondered why the other girl didn't turn down the offer to go into her room. Was she scared of her?

* * *

At lunch they never continued on with the story. Not even when Ruby asked.

"It's best if we don't mention them at all," May had told her.

She had a nervous look on her face, like whenever something bad happened. It only made the brunette more curious but she didn't push anything.

Reese only shrugged as if she didn't care either way.

During the rest of the lunch period, they talked about other things while they ate.

* * *

Ruby caught sight of the Malachite Twins again, when school was over. This time, they weren't standing at her bike. They were hanging near the fountain in front of the school, talking. When they saw her, they just smiled. Something about their smiles, though, seemed off. She didn't like it at all, but she was glad they didn't approach her.

She rode her bike home like always, listening to the music on her Walkman and enjoying the small breeze as her scarf blew along with it. Taking off her headphones and resting them on her shoulders, she spotted Amber talking to the neighbors outside the house, once she got home.

The woman was talking to an old man, whose job was running a local corner store out the development. Ruby had only talked to him a couple times. Once when they just moved in and a few times when she picked a few groceries up from the corner store. He was a really nice man, who enjoyed conversations.

"Hey Amber," Ruby greeted the woman as she walked across the law. She made sure to give a wave to the man that was talking to her.

"Hello Ruby," Amber replied with a smile. "There's a package for you on the kitchen table."

The girl brightened and ran into the house. She dropped her bag and looked at the small box sitting on the table, once she got into the kitchen.

 _Dad,_ she thought. _I can't believe it got here so fast. Did he mail it off before he told me about it?_

She took the box to her room, leaving her bag in the kitchen, and opened it up on her bed. Out came some cassettes like her dad told her. They were pretty old but looked clean. There were no scratches or dirt on them. She took out the cassette that was currently in Walkman and put in one of the new ones. After that, she pulled her headphones on and fell back into the bed with a sigh.

She didn't care if people judged her about listening to music on something so old. This was one of the few pieces she had left of her mom. It was one of the only things that made her feel like her mom was with her. Her dad knew that and would always give her cassettes whenever he found some. He knew this would always make her happy whenever she felt depressed.

The songs on the cassette that she was currently listening to were old slow songs. It was probably something she'd always hear her dad sing or hear it play at the corner store sometimes.

Amber came back in the house and called her from the kitchen. Taking off her headphones, she got up and went downstairs.

"What did our neighbor want?" she asked.

"We were just having a friendly conversation," the woman answered. "What was in the package?"

"Oh, Dad got me some more cassettes," she told her. "So now I have like six of them."

Amber smiled before taking out her cellphone.

"Do you want pizza for dinner?" She started dialing the number before Ruby answered.

"Yea, that's alright." She took a seat at the table and pulled her bag over.

She worked on her homework while Amber watched TV until the pizza arrived.

* * *

Ruby woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. When she came back into her room, she heard a strange noise coming from outside. It sounded like a small rumbling sound.

She approached her window and gave a good peek. Nothing. Curiosity getting the best of her, she opened up the window and leaned forward, looking around the corner.

It sounded like a skateboard.

She blinked.

 _It couldn't be,_ she thought, _could it?_

Finally she saw a small figure slowly drifting down the street. To her surprise, she saw a familiar, purple sweatshirt even though it was pretty dark out and the only light that was outside were the street lamps.

"Reese?" she whispered to herself. "What's she doing out so late?" She blinked again. "Why is she even here for the matter?"

Reese was swerving left to right on her skateboard, curving in an easy type of way. Ruby noticed something hanging from the girl's mouth as she got closer. Her eyebrows furrowed when she couldn't make it out.

She had the urge to call out to the girl and ask her what she was doing out so late but decided not to. Instead, she continued to watch her. As she got closer to her house, she noticed that Reese wasn't wearing her uniform. She still had the sweatshirt on, but it was zipped all the way up, and was wearing jeans.

She probably looked like a creep, watching the other girl, but she was just generally curious. She hoped the girl wouldn't see her.

Her chances of even calling the girl's name was cut short because she was now passing her window. Biting her lip, Ruby already began to gauge when she should start to move to leave while Reese's back was turned. But, in the middle of her thinking, her head turned, and just like that, her gaze went straight to the brunette's window.

She surprised her, actually, she probably gave her a heart attack.

"Shit!" the other girl cried.

Ruby couldn't see her expression because it was dark, but she did see the girl wobble and fall off her board because she was going faster than in the beginning and she managed to throw her off. It wasn't graceful. Actually, Ruby's heart dropped when she saw her make the fall. She was suddenly feeling the need to jump off the roof to see if Reese was ok. Before Ruby could think of a much smarter way down, though, she hopped up and cursed to herself.

"Fucking hell," she heard the girl say, "I knew it was a bad idea to come here on a school night."

She watched as Reese dusted off her knees. Then, she picked up her board and walked over towards her house. She pulled what looked like earbuds out from her ears. With a look around, she spotted Ruby's head peeked out the window. Jumping a little, startled, she swatted whatever she had in her mouth away and crushed it on the ground with her foot.

"Ruby?" she called out. "The hell are you doing peeking out the window?"

Heat rose to the brunette's cheeks in embarrassment. She was glad that it was dark out and that she was a bit far away from the girl so she couldn't see how stupid she looked.

"I…uh…" she started nervously, "I heard something coming from outside and wanted to see what all the noise was."

"Oh," was all Reese said.

"Are you alright?" she asked, still worried about the hard fall she took.

"Yea, it's alright." The other girl came a little closer and Ruby could see a small smile on her face. "This isn't the first time I took a hard fall like that."

There was a small sigh of relief that came from her. Then, she asked, "What are you doing out here?"

She decided not to question why the girl was out so late, just in case that would annoy her.

Pulling down her hood, Reese ran a hand through her hair as she answered, "I was just over a friend's house. He lives around here."

"Oh, okay." There was silence for a moment. "You should…probably get going. It's kinda late."

"Yea—" Reese paused. "—I should do that. I'll…see you in school."

Dropping her board, she hopped back on it and rode off. Once she was totally gone and Ruby could only hear the sound of the board gliding across the rode, she closed up her window and went back to bed.

She dreamed of her mom and sweet roses.

* * *

Ruby never once mentioned about Reese skating late at night in school, and during the upcoming Friday, May invited them both to her place.

"I have nothing to do really," she told them, "and it's going to be boring as hell being all alone."

"Can't," said Reese. "I have something to do."

May shrugged and turned to Ruby.

"I hope you won't leave me hanging," she said, rubbing the back of her neck.

Reese just sucked her teeth at the comment and sat her feet on her desk.

"I don't have anything to do so I think I'll be able to," she replied. "I'll text you."

May nodded, smiling.

The teacher came in soon after and shouted at Reese for having her feet on the desk.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

 **Well that's about it. Feel free to leave a review to let me know what you think or if you have any questions.**

 **Till next time!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note**

 **Hey guys! Okay so I was supposed to upload this on Tuesday but I've been busy during the week, so that's why it's up today. The next chapter will be late as well since I accidently deleted it, but I do have an earlier version of it so everything is fine at least.**

 **Also, I know I'm showing Ruby with May and Reese all the time but that will definitely change soon. More of the girls will appear very soon.**

 **After you're done reading this chapter, why don't you leave a review a let me know what you think of it. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **(Commentary)**

 **DMcFurry[Guest]:** I'm glad you like the story so far. More is coming your way soon so I hope you continue to stay. Also, sorry but Glynda won't be in the harem. I'm going to be using her for something else.

 **Reaper Whisper:** Yep, Neo will be in it as well. After watching Ruby fight her and Roman in Volume 3, it's kind of my guilty ship. As for Reese, there was a hint of what she was doing during the night, but you'll find out soon if you haven't found out already.

 **THB4:** I'm still thinking of what club I should have Ruby join at the moment. The whole thing with Reese will be coming up soon, which'll show what type of person she is. You'll also get to find out more about Yang in this chapter as well.

 **riotsnake-kun:** I would like to do that but coming up with songs for every chapter takes time so I'm not going to do it for this story. Sorry! :(

 **spirit117:** Haha yea, I decided to have them meet similar to how they were like in the show. Neo meeting Ruby will definitely be a fun read for you so stay tuned.

* * *

 **Color Me Once**

 **Chapter 3**

She texted May after she got home from school, telling her that Amber allowed her to go over. Amber was actually more relieved that the girl had something to do, instead of staying home all the time. She took off her uniform to wear something more comfortable. Then, she rode her bike to May's place. The girl gave her the address to her place and directions.

The complex was different from her neighborhood. It was a lot less quiet in May's. There were people running their motors or talking or blasting music. She could see that this was May's type of place to live. She also wondered how anyone can sleep with so much noise going on.

The apartments were not what she expected when she entered the neighborhood as well. They weren't regular apartments like she's usually seen before. These apartments were more luxurious ones. It actually surprised her that May was able to live on her own in an expensive apartment.

 _Her parents must be rich,_ she thought, but then she had a feeling a lot of the girls in her school had rich families because it was a private school. _Thank Amber for helping my dad with the money to get me into the school._

May lived on an upper level and Ruby didn't see an elevator anywhere, so she carried her bike up the stairs. Then, she walked to her apartment room and rang the door bell.

May instantly answered.

Swinging open the door, she greeted, "Hey Ruby!"

She had on casual clothes like the redhead; a red and white baseball shirt and black track pants. She wore the same beanie as always, but Ruby still never questioned it.

"Come in," she told her, moving away from the doorway to make room. "You'd probably want to bring your bike in as well."

Ruby complied and walked into the house. Looking around curiously, she noticed that it looked a bit too simple to be a luxurious apartment. It was just basic furniture in the place. Still, it looked really nice.

"Wow," was all she said as she gently leaned her bike on the wall.

May closed the front door.

"Nice isn't it?" She asked, approaching the brunette. "If the pool was available, I would've told you to bring a bathing suit."

"Pool?!" Ruby questioned with raised eyebrows.

She nodded before leading her into the living room, "Yea, there's a pool here. Barely anyone uses it so it's just me and some friends that us it. It's not available today because no one's cleaned it. That's one of the reasons why Reese usually comes over. It's either that or she's super bored and needs some company, but she never admits that."

The living room of the apartment looked a little less basic as Ruby got a quick look around. There was also a TV that hung in the middle of the wall. When she looked down from it, she noticed that there were a couple gaming systems sitting on a small shelf. She remembered the game the other girl was talking about at lunch before.

"What type of games do you play?" she asked, still staring at the games.

May had a look that showed that she was hoping to be asked about that. Clearing her throat as if she was about to say some big news and raising her arm out to the games, she said, "I play just about everything that is interesting these days. Sports games, shooting, first person, puzzle and strategy, fighting, horror, etcetera…"

Ruby just smiled at her but on the inside she came to a conclusion that Reese was right. May was indeed a big dork, but it wasn't a bad thing like Reese tried to portray. She liked how May was so invested on something like this. She also found it kind of cute.

The other girl was still talking and Ruby realized she wasn't listening and was just smiling at her. When May finally noticed, her eyebrows furrowed as she bit her lip and rubbed the back of her neck.

"Was I rambling?" she asked. "I'm sorry if I was. I do that a lot when I talk about video games. You can tell me if I was. I won't be mad."

Ruby blinked and quickly shook her head, then told her, "No, it's alright. You're fine."

"Oh good," she sighed, moving over to the shelf and picking two gaming controllers. "Cause Reese gets pissed off when I do it."

She laughed a little to herself and brought the controllers to her.

"Well, you don't have to worry about me because I won't get mad."

May looked at her in a way that made her puzzled because she couldn't read it. It seemed like it was doubt but there was something else in it. Before she could even ask if she's said something wrong May laughed again as she handed her a controller.

"So, you want to play the game with me?" she asked.

"Sure."

She joined the other girl on the couch once she turned the TV and game on. May told her that the game they were playing was a shooter game and she grinned. She's played shooter games before back at her old house when she had her own gaming system. She still has it but she left it for her sister in case the girl got bored.

"Since this is your first time," May started slyly, "I might go easy on you."

"You don't have to worry about that May," Ruby replied with a look of determination. "I'll be fine."

"Well don't say I didn't warn you."

* * *

May got her ass kicked.

All she could do was just sit there and stare, jaw dropped, at the TV screen as it showed the leader board. The two were just doing a small game of one on one with snipers(May suggested it). She didn't know that it would turn out like that, and she didn't know that the other girl was so good at shooter games, especially her favorite one.

"H-Ho-How…" she couldn't even form the words.

Ruby just smiled and told her, putting down the controller, "I played this game before at my old house."

She was still staring at the screen with the same shocked expression on her face.

"N-No one's ever beat me at my own game before," she mumbled and then looked at her.

The brunette couldn't help but laugh at the dumbfounded expression on the girl's face. Before she could try to encourage her, May grabbed her hands and cupped them in her own, face filled with determination.

"Marry me!" she commanded, her voice also filled with the same determination.

Ruby could feel heat rising to her cheeks as she was now the one with the dumbfounded expression on her face. She knew that other girl probably wasn't thinking, but she still found it embarrassing.

"U-Um M-May?" she called.

May didn't answer.

They stayed like that for about a minute until the other girl finally realized what was going on. She jerked back, releasing Ruby's hands, and blinked rapidly, realizing what she just did.

"Oh shit, my bad Ruby," she said nervously as she rubbed the back of her neck. "I was too caught up in the moment."

She scooted back a little to give the girl some space as she had her own look of embarrassment.

Clearing her throat, she asked, changing the subject, "Are you hungry? I could order us take-out."

Facing draining back to her normal color, Ruby nodded.

"What kind?" she asked.

"Mistralian **(1)** ," May answered, taking out her cellphone and dialing the number. "It's really good if you haven't tried it already. But be warned, they're known for their spicy food."

She laughed, "Okay."

* * *

Ruby was over May's until 9. The food was as good as May told her and was also a bit spicy. She still loved it anyway. She also enjoyed hanging out with the other girl and hoped that it wouldn't just be a one time thing. May asked if she was okay heading home alone and offered to go with her, but Ruby told her that she was fine.

When she got home, Amber was watching TV in the living room, waiting for her.

"Hey Ruby," she greeted. "How was May's? That's her name right?"

The girl nodded and answered, "It was great. I had fun."

"I'm glad you had a great time." She got up from her seat.

Ruby looked around in the kitchen and noticed there wasn't any type of dishes out. "What did you eat?"

"Leftovers," the woman told her. Now that Ruby got a good look at her, she noticed Amber looked a little exhausted. "Well, I'm going to bed now. I was just waiting for you to get home and to see if everything went well."

"Okay good night."

"Good night, Ruby." She stopped. "Oh and you should invite that May girl over so I can meet her. And the other girl too."

"I will."

* * *

On the weekend, Ruby went shopping with Amber and then called up her father to touch base with him back at home.

"Yang's been taking good care of Zwei," he told her. "He's been distracting her from drinking."

"That's good."

Zwei was her dog that her dad got her three years ago so Ruby didn't feel lonely. He had asked her if she wanted to take him with her and Amber, but she told him that she wanted him to keep both her dad and Yang company. It's been rough for both of them and they both need someone like Zwei to brighten their mood.

"So how are your friends doing?" he asked.

"They're great," she answered. "One of them, May, she invited me to her place and we played video games and ate Mistralian food. I had a really great time."

"Oh, she doesn't live in a dorm either?"

"Nope. She lives alone in her own apartment."

"Oh wow. That's an interesting friend you got." He let out a long breath. "How's school by the way?"

"It's good. Pretty easy so far."

She didn't include the bad bits like, how two girls tried to steal her bike, how there was a huge fight at the school last year, or how they basically had a criminal in the school. If she did, he'd most likely take her out the school.

They talked for a little longer until they were both ready to hang up.

Later on, May and Reese invited her out to pizza. The place was out in the city, and Amber was a little concerned on her riding her bike there. She offered to drive her over there, but Ruby said that they were going to walk around the outlets after that.

The restaurant they were at was "Vale's Pizza Palace." A lot of the students from both the girl's and boy's school went there. Ruby saw a lot of familiar faces plus some people she didn't know. When she arrived at the place, she caught sight of May waving at her in a booth.

"Ruby!" she shouted as the girl came over. "Glad you could make it."

Ruby took a seat across from her and asked, looking at the small menu on the table, "Where's Reese?"

On cue, the said girl came in, laughing aloud with two guys following behind her. They looked around the same age as the girl. Ruby wondered if one of them was the guy that Reese was hanging out with one night.

She gave them both a fist bump before making her way to where the girls were. The guys went somewhere else in the restaurant. Most likely to go find their friends.

Reese took a seat next to Ruby before saying, "Sorry I'm late guys."

"Nah, it's cool," said May. "You came in a minute after Ruby."

"Why is this place so popular?" asked Ruby, as she spotted the Malachite twins talking to some older man at the bar area.

"Who knows?" Reese answered her. "Everyone just likes to come here and hang out. There's like barely any adults here too. They only come during the day. That's why the bar seems so empty." She looked over and also noticed the twins there. She looked at them in disgust. "Can't those two get a hobby instead of flirting with that poor, old man? He obviously knows his boundaries."

"They're not flirting with him," May grunted in annoyance, now looking at them too. "They're probably trying to steal something from him."

Reese snickered, "Yea _…something._ "

She scrunched up her nose and looked back at the girl in disdain.

"You're disgusting!"

Reese started laughing and at first Ruby didn't get what she meant until she connected the dots. Her face flushed a deep red before swatting the girl's arm.

"Eww Reese~" she cried, pushing her arm now. "You're so gross! How can you say that?"

"I was just kidding guys," she told them, still laughing. "It's a joke."

Ruby had calmed down, but May just rolled her eyes and shook her head, clearly still annoyed by the girl.

"Who is that guy anyway?" the brunette asked.

Before Reese could answer, May spoke first so the girl wouldn't say anything else bad.

"That's Hei Xiong," she answered. "He's the owner of this place. Well, a lot of places actually. He's only here on weekends but works at a nightclub on weekdays. Everyone calls him Junior though. He's cool I guess."

"Oh." Ruby watched the man glance at her oddly.

It was actually pretty loud in the restaurant, but Junior didn't seem to mind at all, as long as there was soft music playing in the background. Mostly the guys were loud while the girls just talked in their regular voices. Ruby did hear Nora's loud voice in somewhere in the place though.

So did May.

"Looks like the Ginger Club is here," she groaned. "That means Katt is here too. Hopefully she doesn't see me."

"Weren't you two a thing?" Reese asked, resting her arm on the seat.

She hushed her. "Never talk about that!"

Ruby looked at May quizzically, but didn't ask anything in case there girl would get embarrassed. Then, suddenly, the two got dead silent as Reese stuck her head out from the booth and May turned.

Coming their way, looked like an older version of Weiss except more built in a few places. She had on beige khakis and a black polo with the "Pizza Palace" logo on it. She stopped at their table and took out a note pad and pen.

"Hey guys," she greeted, then looked at Ruby. "And I see you have a new member in you group."

She winced a little, staring at the same icy, blue eyes she saw on Weiss. Even if the woman was being nice, she still felt like she was talking to Weiss. She gulped.

Reese pointed her thumb at the girl and said, "That's Ruby. She's new to this area."

The woman smiled at the girl, making Ruby's scared feeling fade to something else. There was a weird feeling coming from her stomach and it was then she notice that the woman was absolutely stunning. No wonder why both May and Reese and probably a few others stopped what they were doing and stared.

"It's nice to meet you Ruby," she told her. "I'm Winter, Weiss' older sister, if you haven't known. I really hope you can handle these two idiots."

Ruby couldn't help but laugh, making the other girls whine at her.

"So what can I get you guys to drink?"

They all looked at the small menu that was set on the table for a second.

"I'll have a beer," said Reese, smirking up at the woman.

She wrote on her note pad, "Okay, root beer for you."

Reese sucked teeth.

"I'll have a Coke," May told her.

She nodded and wrote it down before turning to Ruby. Every time the woman would look at her she could feel her face heat up.

"I'll, uh, have a—" she looked at the menu again "—strawberry lemonade."

"Alright," said Winter as she wrote it down. "Will you guys be sharing a pizza?"

"Yea, half plain, half pepperoni," May told her.

"Okay. Everything should be out soon." She left into the back room.

Once she was gone May sighed, "If she wasn't so old, I wouldn't be so creeped out on hitting on her."

"Whoever she's with, they sure are lucky," said Reese.

They both just sat there in a daze.

"Who is she?" Ruby asked.

"Winter is Weiss' older sister and better looking sister," May answered.

"Rude…" Reese muttered but the girl ignored her.

"She's actually a very powerful woman but decides to work here in her spare time," she continued. "She also went to Beacon like three years ago, I think. She sings too, like Weiss. Sometimes, on Friday nights, she performs here. She's really an amazing person."

"Here that is," added Reese. "She's a totally different person outside of here."

"Oh okay," said Ruby as she watched the woman walk back in with their drinks.

"Here you go." She placed their drinks on the table. "Your pizza is already getting made."

She then went to a different table to take their order. Reese watched her as she took a sip of her drink. Her nose scrunched up.

"Should've gave me the beer," she groaned.

May shook her head, "You're really unbelievable."

"You drink?" Ruby asked.

She shrugged before answering boredly, "Sometimes. When I'm in a drinking mood. Like today. May's my drinking buddy though."

When she smirked at her, May stuck her tongue out.

"I can handle my drinking unlike you." She smirked back when Reese rolled her eyes. "It's true."

Ruby exhaled. It wasn't like the whole idea of her friends drinking bothered her. She just couldn't help but think of Yang when May basically said that Reese couldn't handle her drinking. She squeezed her glass before taking a drink.

"Hey, you okay?" someone asked. It was May.

She flinched when a hand touched her shoulder. She looked up to find both Reese and May staring at her with concern. Blinking, the girl quickly nodded.

"Yea," she swallowed, "yea…I'm good."

Reese rubbed her back before asking, "Are you sure? If we said something wrong, you can tell us."

"I'm fine guys, really," she told them with a smile.

Reese placed her arm back on the chair and nodded. May looked at her a little suspiciously before dropping it. She pursued her lips and drank her soda.

Winter came back some time later with the pizza. She moved the small menu in the middle of the table over to place the pizza on it. All three girls looked at it with pure hunger. The pizza was hot and fresh, and the girls looked like they were about to tear it up.

"Anything else you girls need?" she asked.

"No," Reese and May answered simultaneously while Ruby shook her head.

"Enjoy." She winked before walking away.

* * *

"Goddamn that pizza was good!" Reese shouted, rubbing her stomach.

"Couldn't agree anymore" said May.

Ruby had just finished her pizza, but she agreed with Reese as well. When Winter came back with the bill, May and Reese did rock, paper, scissors to see who'd pay for it.

"Dammit," May cried when she pulled rock and Reese had paper.

"Better luck next time," she laughed before getting up. "I'll be back."

She walked over to the table her friends from earlier were at.

"Those are her skating buddies," May told Ruby. "The guy with the black hair is Bolin and the other guy, with the pink hair, is Nadir."

Ruby watched as the girl started laughing with the boys like when they first came in. Reese caught her staring and waved, telling her to come over. She looked at May, asking if it was okay.

"Go ahead," the girl said. "I have to do something anyway."

Smiling, Ruby got up and left the booth to go talk to Reese and her friends.

"Guys," Reese started, wrapping an arm around Ruby's shoulder, "I'd like you to meet Ruby. And Ruby, I'd like you to meet Bolin—" she pointed to the guy with tan skin "—and Nadir." She pointed to the guy with dark skin.

Bolin grinned at the brunette before smiling slyly at Reese.

"That's your girlfriend?" he asked. "She's cute."

Ruby's face flushed in embarrassment as she looked over at Reese, who was frowning at him.

"She's the new girl I told you guys about," she answered, rolling her eyes. "She's not my girlfriend."

The two boys cackled.

"I thought cute ones were your type," said Nadir.

She unwrapped her arm from the girl's shoulder and smacked him in the head, making him yelp.

"Okay, okay, I was kidding," he whined, rubbing the back of his head.

"Whatever…" There was a slight blush on Reese's face, but they barely noticed it.

"Anyway," came Bolin, "nice to meet you, Ruby. If Reese isn't dating you, just know that I'm available."

He winked causing Ruby to squeak and bury her face in her hands. Her face was practically burning.

"Bolin leave the girl alone," Reese grunted in annoyance. "Let's go Ruby."

She pulled the girl along, leaving the two sitting there with confused expressions.

"Why did she just catch an attitude like that?" Nadir asked only for Bolin to shrug at him.

"Who knows?"

* * *

When they got to the table, the bill was paid and a tip was left, but May was no where in sight.

"The hell did that girl go?" Reese asked, taking out her phone. "We're supposed to be walking around the outlets."

Just as she was about to dial the girl's number, she emerged from the bathroom, clothes a little disheveled and a visible blush on her face. She dust off her shirt and pants and fixed her beanie before approaching the two girls.

"Sorry," she said.

Reese just arched an eyebrow at her and sized her up.

"Okay…?" She didn't question the girl. "Well, let's get going."

Walking out the door, Ruby noticed the man, Junior was watching them, specifically her. She didn't know what for and didn't question it, but she did find it creepy.

When they got outside, Reese hopped on her skateboard and Ruby grabbed her bike.

"I'm the only one that doesn't have something to ride on," May whined.

"Don't worry, May," said Ruby. "I'm only carrying it."

She smiled at her and Reese just rolled her eyes.

"How was May's house by the way?" she asked, slowly riding down the sidewalk with the two walking at her side.

"It was fun," Ruby answered.

"She beat me at my own damn game," May mumbled.

"Wooow. That's a real shame May." She snickered. "I cannot believe it." She paused. "Nah, actually I can."

She busted out laughing.

"Keep laughing because you can't even beat me!" May snapped.

The two started arguing after that and it continued for the rest of the night.

* * *

When it was time to go, May waved the other two goodbye and took the bus back to her place. Ruby was about to leave as well, but noticed Reese was going her way as well.

"Nadir wants me to hang out with him," she told her as they rode down the street.

 _So that's whose house she came from,_ the brunette thought.

Reese pulled out a pack of gum and put a piece in her mouth. She raised it out to Ruby.

"Want one?" she asked.

"Thanks," said Ruby, taking a piece and putting it in her mouth.

She shoved her hands in her pocket and kicked off as the ride became silent. She wanted to say something to the girl, but she didn't know what to say. Ruby rode right next to her, a small smile on her face. She wondered if she was fine with this silence.

"Um, Ruby," she called, popping her gum.

The girl looked over, "Hm?"

"At the restaurant," she took a deep breath, "what happened back there? You were all tense."

Ruby's smile faded as she told her, "Nothing. I told you I was fine."

"I just wanted to make sure we didn't say anything wrong like last time," she murmured.

The brunette glanced over at her before staring straight ahead. She wanted to ask her what was so great about drinking that she can't just have one swig of alcohol or why she even drinks or even what she's like when she's drunk. Instead, she didn't say anything and pursed her lips.

"It's alright Reese," she finally said. "You guys didn't say anything wrong."

Reese looked at her one last time with a worried expression.

"Okay…"

* * *

When she arrived home, Amber was waiting for her like before. She told the woman that she had a good time and that she was very tired. The woman didn't question anything and just went to bed like her. Ruby took off her clothes and put on her pajamas and slipped in the bed.

Her phone vibrated on her dresser.

She grabbed the phone and saw that she got a text from Reese.

 **Reese:** Goodnight

With a smile, she texted back:

Night :)

* * *

 **A few minutes ago**

Reese was trying to fight the process on whether or not she should send a good night text to the girl. She felt like the girl wasn't in a good mood after the ride to her place. Ruby just said goodbye when she went home. That was it, and Reese just watched her go in the house before leaving.

 _It's just a damn text,_ she thought. _That's all you need to do._

Sighing, she gave in and texted the girl "good night".

She instantly got a text back and it almost made her fly off her skateboard. Gulping, she opened up the text.

 **Ruby:** Night :)

 _See, that wasn't so bad you fucking moron,_ she thought, smiling a bit.

She shoved her phone in her pocket, popped her gum, and skated the rest of the way to Nadir's.

* * *

 **(1) Since this story is still based in Remnant, cultures are based from the kingdoms in it.**

 **Author's Note**

 **Feel free to leave a review to let me know what you think or if you have any questions. Toodles!**


End file.
